Hope Hicks took the stand on Friday in Donald Trump's hush money case.
The former Trump adviser recounted in her morning testimony how she followed Trump from the real estate world to politics and how his 2016 presidential campaign was turned upside down following a leak of a video recording in which he boasted about grabbing women without their permission.
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Judge Juan M. Merchan called a sudden recess in Donald Trump's hush money trial Friday afternoon after Hope Hicks began crying on the witness stand.
Trump lawyer Emil Bove had just begun cross-examination of her, asking her a question reflecting on her time at the Trump Organisation, when she broke down.
Bove said, "Your honor, can we take a break?"
Merchan then asked Hicks if she needed time. The witness had turned away from the microphone and appeared to be breaking down in tears.
"Yes," she said gently.
Merchan then sent the jury out of the room. Hicks left a moment later, still emotional as she slipped out a side door.
Hicks is the latest witness to be called in a frenzied second week of testimony.
Others to testify have included stints from lawyer Keith Davidson, who represented porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in their respective hush money negotiations; forensic analyst Douglas Daus, who analysed the contents of phones belonging to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen; and Georgia Longstreet, a paralegal with the Manhattan district attorney's office.
Prosecutors have said that Trump and others conducted a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by purchasing and burying salacious stories that might hurt his campaign.
Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments — including $130,000 given to Daniels by Cohen — recording them instead as legal expenses.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury.
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